Could you still save money after spending it?

It’s always a huge frustration to find something you buy at full price that later gets discounted.

Often it’s a gift you bought just before the Christmas price drop and the new year sales kick in. But it could easily happen to anything you buy all year around, whether for yourself or someone else. 

With gifts it’s not like you can wait for the sales—it’ll be odd to exchange gifts once the tree’s been taken down or a week after the birthday candles have been blown out! 

And though you might be able to delay some purchases, you run the risk that they’ll be sold out before the sales come around, particularly anything in a popular size or limited editions. 

And, of course, sometimes you just need something when you need it, which means you may pay more even though you know that reductions could be around the corner.

But sometimes it’s possible to hack your shopping so you can buy when you need to and still take advantage of those discounts if they come along soon after.

There are a few ways to do this. The first applies to most retailers and it’s very simple. You buy something at full price, and if it’s later reduced, you take back the original for a refund and then buy it again. 

You’ll need to check individual returns policies as these will vary—some retailers might not even accept returns. Watch out for time restrictions on returns, and also check if you will get money back or just store credit.

If you’re buying online you’ll be able to return anything within 14 days of receiving it, no questions asked. But do be careful of a shipping charge.

Of course it’ll need to be unused and in its original condition, so this won’t work for all gifts you buy or anything you wear or use.

Next up is price matching after purchase. You might already know about price matching when you buy. Certain retailers will lower their selling price if you can find the exact same item for less elsewhere. Well, some will do this after you buy too!

There will be restrictions, such as only being able to use prices at certain retailers (Amazon is often excluded as a comparison), and there’s often a short time window for this—perhaps just a week. 

Some of the shops doing this include All Beauty, AO, Blacks, Boots (on electrical beauty products only), Currys and Richer Sounds.

So, if you choose to buy at these shops in the first place (and do check you can’t price match then too), you might be able to get a partial refund after.

A quick way to find out about any subsequent price drops is to use a price alert tool. Price Spy and Idealo are both worth a look. Just add the product you bought and ask for email alerts if the price goes down.

They won’t, however, cover all retailers so you might want to check any significant ones that are missing.

You also need to be sure the other shop is selling the exact same product. A slight variation in colour or size will rule you out—that’s partially why you might find subtly different models available in different shops.

I’ve been caught out before because a shirt had different colour buttons! But I’ve used this on all sorts of things, including pricey white goods and tech where the savings can be huge.

Finally, you can use price matching when a retailer cuts its own prices. The big name here is John Lewis. Though the department store ended its “Never knowingly undersold” policy in 2022, the little known Price Drop Promise is still running.

You have 35 days after purchase to request any reductions they make themselves. If you bought online you need to fill in a form online too. If it’s in-store then you can return to the shop or call up.

It’s rare to find this at other retailers, but the likes of Amazon and Currys have previously offered this during big pre-Christmas sales. So, if you bought anything recently, it’s worth checking to see not only whether this policy applies, but also if the price has fallen.

Where you might come unstuck with all these methods is there’s no guarantee that what you buy will be reduced in the given time frame, if at all.

You should be happy to still shell out for the full price if you’re buying something, especially those things that you will be gifting or using straight away.

Plus if the items you buy have sold out before the sales start, then they won’t be available for the retailer either to then reduce—and for you to claim some money back—so it won’t solve the issue of missing out on anything popular or a limited edition.

Of course, if prices don’t fall, and you’ve not used the item, then you can still return the initial purchase for a full refund. Just make sure you do, otherwise you’ll end up paying that full price for nothing. 

Remember, though, you should still shop around in the first place. You might be able to get an unbeatable bargain upfront at a different retailer—and that will save you a lot of admin later on.

But if a decent deal is available from a shop that also offers a price drop or price match after purchase (or lets you return it for a full refund), it will mean you have the chance of further savings if the price does later fall.